Bad loans at Italy's banks stable in December, lending shrinks

February 9, 2016 9:53 AM

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MILAN Feb 9 Gross bad loans at banks based in Italy - a major problem for lenders in the country after a long recession - remained roughly stable in December at 201 billion euros ($225 billion) but lending to companies returned to shrink, data showed on Tuesday.

The Bank of Italy said lending to non-financial companies dropped 0.7 percent year-on-year in December after a 0.2 percent rise the previous month - which had marked the first increase in three and a half years.